UK Event to Combat Gender Bias on Wikipedia
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 6, 2015) — To combat a well-documented gender gap on Wikipedia, the University of Kentucky community will come together to create change on the open content online encyclopedia. The UK Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon will take place from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday, March 8, at the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.
In a 2011 survey, the Wikimedia Foundation found that less than 10 percent of its contributors identify as female. The reasons for the gender gap are up for debate; suggestions include leisure inequality, how gender socialization shapes public comportment and the sometimes contentious nature of Wikipedia’s talk pages. The content is considered skewed by the lack of female participation.
The Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon will be an all-day communal updating of Wikipedia entries on subjects related to art and feminism. Hosted by Abbye Allan and Ida Lucille Sell, UK's event will include tutorials for the beginner Wikipedian, a list of locally relevant entries to be edited, as well as reference material. Local Wikipedians, Randolph Hollingsworth, assistant provost for program development in the UK Division of Undergraduate Education, and Sydney Poore, Wikipedian-in-residence at Cochrane Collaboration, will be on hand to assist participants with Wikipedia’s markup language.
UK faculty, staff and students interested in participating are asked to bring their laptops, power cords and ideas for entries that need to be updated or created. Even the editing-averse are urged to stop by to show support. Women, women-identified and male allies are all welcome. Participants can come to the entire event, or just stay for a short time. Organizers ask that participants create a Wikipedia user account prior to the event, as well as RSVP on Facebook or sign into the event on Wikipedia at www.facebook.com/events/1035175469831431/.
The event at UK will coincide with edit-a-thons across the globe being held the weekend of International Women’s Day. With the Museum of Modern Art acting as the hub, more than 70 global satellite events are planned with hosts like: Morton R. Godine Library at The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston; F/LAT, Brussels, Belgium; Los Angeles County Museum of Art in collaboration with East of Borneo; Canadian Women’s Art History Initiative, Concordia University and Eastern Bloc, Montreal; Fondation Galeries Lafayette, Paris; Albert M. Greenfield Library at University of the Arts, Philadelphia; Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives at Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; and College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachussetts, among others.
Those interested in organizing another satellite event are encouraged to contact, info@art.plusfeminism.org. For questions and comments regarding UK's Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon, contact organizers at artandfeminismuk@gmail.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu